Chewy Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Looking for a foolproof way to make a classic cookie but without the eggs? These chewy Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies are quick, easy, and outrageously delicious!

Eggs have been so expensive lately, so I’ve been bound and determined to develop a perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe without eggs.

Plus, they require no chilling time, are foolproof, and contain all easy-to-find ingredients. As a mom on-the-go who doesn’t want to settle for subpar food, I love an easy, 10-ingredient, 30-minute cookie recipe that doesn’t compromise on taste.

After testing with many different egg substitutes (I tried apple sauce, bananas, a flaxseed egg, and extra oil before deciding that cornstarch is my favorite solution), I am confident I’ve landed on a recipe that is easy, accessible, affordable, and absolutely delicious!

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredient Highlights

---

In lieu of eggs in this cookie recipe, we will be making a cornstarch slurry out of cornstarch + water to bind them together.

I recommend using unsalted butter, so you have more control over the salt content, but if you want to use salted butter just omit the added salt.

Most importantly, make sure your butter is softened. For help, check out my article on how to quickly and easily soften butter.

Light brown sugar is my preference here, but dark brown sugar works in a pinch.

You can use either dark, milk, or semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use dark!).

Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Eggs Tips and Tricks

---

Common Substitutes for Eggs

In eggless baking, there are a variety of different egg substitutes we can use, depending on what we need the eggs for. Here are some common egg substitutes:

• Flaxseed or Chia Seeds. When soaked in water, the seeds thicken and bind, holding together cakes, loaves, muffins, etc.
• Banana. Bananas also work well as a binder, but they do add a hint of fruity banana flavor.
• Applesauce. This is commonly used in place of eggs as it adds a lot of moisture.
• Just Egg. Not only is this commercial egg substitute delicious on its own, but it also helps to both bind and leaven, just like regular eggs.
• Cornstarch. This works great in baked goods (hint, hint: like cookies!) to tightly bind and avoid spreading.
• Nut butter. Nut butter is a great binding agent in baked goods and means you don’t need eggs at all, but it always adds a nutty flavor, which, while delicious, is not what we are going for here.

Note: Just because there isn’t eggs in this cookie dough, does not necessarily mean that the dough is safe to eat raw. Raw flour poses similar risk of containing bacteria and causing food-borne illness.

What does cornstarch do to cookies?

Cornstarch does a really great job of absorbing extra moisture to thicken any liquid or mixture. I use it often to soak up excess moisture when making crispy tofu or vegetables, or as a thickening agent in sauce (like in this Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding!).

Once cornstarch reaches a temperature of 295°F, its thickening properties are kicked into overdrive. This means, that during the baking process, once your cookies reach a temperature of 295°F they will retain their current size and shape.

In these eggless chocolate chip cookies, the cornstarch stops the cookies from spreading too much, binding them together and giving them a luxurious chewy texture with a soft middle and slightly crispy edges.

To best integrate the cornstarch into the cookie dough, we will add it to water and set it aside, giving it some time to absorb. Throughout this recipe, I will refer to this cornstarch and water mixture as the cornstarch slurry.

Why It Is Important to Cream the Butter and Sugar Together

The best way to set yourself up for success with these eggless cookies is to make sure you start with softened butter.

The simplest way to make sure your butter is softened is to just take it out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before baking and allow it to come to room temperature naturally.

If you don’t have time to wait for your cold butter to reach room temperature, there are some easy ways to soften butter quickly.

The first way is to simply place your stick of butter directly on top of your oven while the oven is preheating. Flip it over after a couple of minutes to allow both sides to get warm.

An even quicker way is to put the half stick of butter needed for this recipe in the microwave for 10 seconds. From there, you can heat it in 5-second intervals until it’s softened.

Remember we want softened, not melted! So how do you know your butter is ready? Well, you just poke it! If your finger leaves an imprint, your butter is nice and soft.

Once your butter is softened, the first step is to mix it with the light brown sugar with the hand mixer on high for 2-3 minutes to cream it. Creaming the butter and sugar actually aerates it, setting you up for a soft cookie.

Beat the Wet Ingredients Until Smooth

Once your butter and sugar is creamed together, it’s time to add your cornstarch slurry and vanilla extract.

Note that some of the cornstarch will sink to the bottom of your slurry. You may need to use a spatula to scrape it out to ensure all of it is added to your eggless cookie dough!

When you first add the cornstarch slurry and start to mix it, the dough will look split or broken. This is to be expected. The water content will take a little while to integrate into the fat from the butter.

Continue to use you hand mixer on high, beating for 3-5 minutes until the water is integrated. There are pictures for your reference below.

Add the Dry Ingredients

Once you’ve integrated your wet ingredients, it’s time to finish off your dough with the dry ingredients! Add your flour, salt, and baking soda.

Once again, use the hand mixer to beat the dough until smooth. Make sure to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, integrating any loose ingredients that may be stuck.

Continue to mix and scrape until everything is smooth with no lumps.

Fold In Your Chocolate Chips Last

Make sure your cookie dough is completely smooth before adding the chocolate chips. I always add at least 1 cup of chocolate chips, but this dough can handle up to 1 1/2 cups. Measure with your heart. 😉

I typically use dark chocolate chips in this and all of my chocolate chip cookie recipes, but you can also use semi-sweet if that is your preference. And if you don’t have chocolate chips? Chop up a chocolate bar!

Form Your No-Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now that you have your chocolate chip cookie dough with no eggs ready to go, all that’s left is shaping those cookies. It is a sticky, wet dough. I find the easiest way to get uniform cookies is by using a large cookie scoop.

If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can absolutely hand-shape your cookies. Just try your best to get them roughly equal in size so that they bake evenly.

Each cookie should be made up of a heaping tablespoon of dough, leaving you with 8-10 cookies total.

Pro tip: If hand-shaping your cookies, wet your hands to avoid dough sticking to them. Continue to wet your hands as needed while forming your cookies. This will allow you to roll and shape them without the mess.

Place your cookies on a lined baking sheet (consider these reusable baking mats for a more sustainable option), leaving ample space between each cookie.

These cookies will not spread much but giving them room allows for their edges to get a little crispy and makes for the best texture.

How to Perfectly Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies without Eggs

These cookies are pretty foolproof, and will hold their shape, even if they are slightly underbaked.

Aside from lining your baking sheet, making the cookies roughly the same size, and giving ample room between each cookies, there is one more important tactic to getting the best texture on these cookies: bake them on the top rack!

Heat rises, so the top rack is often significantly hotter than the bottom. If you place one cookie sheet on the top rack and one on the bottom, there will be a noticeable difference in baking time.

If both sheets don’t fit on the top rack at once, I recommend baking the cookies in two rounds.

These cookies will bake beautifully in 12-14 minutes on the top rack. When they are ready, the top and edges will be a little bit crispy to touch. It’s okay if the center is slightly underdone.

How to Properly Store Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

At room temperature, these chocolatey cookies without eggs will last for 5-7 days when they are covered. In the refrigerator in an airtight container, they can last up to three weeks.

These cookies do tend to get pretty firm within the first couple days of storing them. If you want to keep them softer and chewier, store them in a container with a piece of bread (this is the perfect use for an end piece!).

Believe it or not, moisture from the bread keeps the cookies from drying out.

You can also freeze them once they’re baked for up to a year and allow them to thaw before enjoying.

Freezing Eggless Cookie Dough for Later

You can freeze the dough for your cookies without eggs for up to a year. This way, you can have freshly baked cookies whenever you want!

It’s best to transfer the dough to the refrigerator at least 12 hours before you want to bake them! Otherwise, add an extra minute or two to your baking time if you are baking them right out of the freezer.